Watch Megalo Box Full

The anime is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original manga, and it will feature an original story. In the new story, a man called JD (Junk Dog) participates in fixed boxing matches in an underground ring in order to live. 

Today, he enters the ring again, but he encounters a certain person. JD wants to take on a challenge that risks everything In the not too distant future, boxing has become a sport enhanced by “Gear,” machine exoskeletons worn over the shoulders and arms to allow boxers to punch farther and harder than before. 


Known as “Megalobox,” the sport is popular as both a regular sporting event and as one during which underground bets are laid, with dramatic differences between the fanbases. 

Junk Dog, a young Megaloboxer, is struggling both to make a name for himself in the underground fights as well as with whether he's really happy with his current situation. 

When he hears that the upscale Shirato Group is sponsoring a worldwide Megaloboxing tournament in a special arena, he's largely ambivalent, seeing it as both not worth it and beyond his grasp.

 But he's getting tired of the rigged fights he's forced to participate in. Then he encounters Yuri, the reigning champ of the sport, and might change his mind.

Alright, now we're into the action. Megalo Box was another of my top contenders coming into this season, largely based on its alluring promotional trailer. That trailer promised a detail of art design that you almost never see in anime, along with a generally attractive aesthetic, smooth animation, and an overarching sense of natural cool. So does any of that make it through into the anime proper?
Yep, it all does. If you have any fondness for action shows, you can rest assured that Megalo Box is the real deal. Its current quality puts it on track to compete with My Hero Academia and Golden Kamuy, and you should probably go watch it.
The most striking feature of this Ashita no Joe anniversary project is undoubtedly its incredibly detailed, intentionally uneven linework and backgrounds. From the cracks of the dusty road to the grease-smears obscuring our view through windows, every detail of Megalo Box is given a textural complexity that really brings the world to life. The layouts are dynamic, and the frayed linework of the characters makes them fit naturally into this decaying world. Those characters' own designs occupy a unique and surprisingly natural compromise between classic Ashita no Joedesigns (most clearly evoked through characters like the current champion Yuri) and modern design sensibilities, further bolstering the distinctiveness of Megalo Box's look. Top all that off with relatively fluid animation, and you have the best-looking show of the season so far.
The story all that beauty is being applied to seems just as engaging, if a little more standard. This episode's narrative moves in broad, iconic strokes, painting a classic portrait of the upper-class city dwellers versus our hero Junk Dog, who wastes his boxing talents throwing fights in the slums. The familiarity of this story's narrative beats is actually put to work throughout this episode; we don't need a detailed explanation of what not having a citizenship ID means, all we need is a pan up from Junk Dog's sagging home to the shimmering distant city. Megalo Box whittles its narrative down to classic beats and jumps with purpose between them, with only the show's odd predilection towards little monologues by side characters offering any pacing speed bumps. The show offers just as much narrative as it needs to, letting the richly detailed world, propulsive music, and Junk Dog's burning eyes do the rest.
All in all, outside of those weird little pacing trip-ups, I have basically no complaints about this episode. Megalo Box clearly understands pacing and storytelling economy, the tactical dynamics of Junk Dog's fights are clear even when he's forced to throw matches, and the visual execution is top notch. The only question now is if Megalo Box possesses the animation chops to really sell its big fight sequences, something we'll presumably be learning during next week's showdown with Yuri. If the show clears that hurdle and can somehow maintain this level of visual execution, it'll be a consistent highlight of the spring season.

Theron Martin
Rating: 4.5
There are few series this season that I suspected might come out of the gate with a sizzling-hot premiere, but this was not one of them. The premise suggested a much sillier extrapolation on a real sport that I've never had much interest in (boxing), not to mention being the 50th anniversary production for a franchise that has never interested me (Ashita no Joe). But I was completely floored by how vibrant and involving this show turned out to be.
The first thing that distinguishes Megalobox is its visuals. Nothing else in anime looks like it, and few others convey such a gritty sense of realism in their backgrounds. This is set in a future that is supposed to be run-down and ruined, and everything about the visuals conveys that, whether it's Junk Dog's bandaged face, the omnipresent graffiti, or the earthy look of the attendees at the underground fights. Compared to them, the elegant lady who runs the Megalonia looks like a being from another world, which was almost certainly intended. The animation is easily going to be among the season's finest efforts, with dynamic and interesting shot selections and an impressively effective conveyance of the raw violence inherent to the sport, to say nothing of how it's souped-up by robotic augmentation. Frankly, I'm amazed that this was put together by a first-time director, who also did the conceptual design. He was also responsible for the impressive design work for Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, so You Moriyama might be a name to remember going forward.
The visuals only help to highlight the impact of the work, as does the sharp pulsing musical score that drives every ounce of tension possible into the fights. The story is thoroughly gritty as well, about an underground boxer who's just barely making do by throwing fights he's capable of winning. Since he can't do what he wants in the ring, he vents his frustration by riding dangerously on his motorcycle, and he finally reaches his breaking point by the end. For him, the intimidation factor of facing the champ is irrelevant; by that point the audience can easily sympathize that this is his chance to fully show off what he can do, even if that does mean losing. All of this comes across with an intensity that can't be matched in most other anime.
In short, if you were ready to pass on this one because you thought it was just another boxing series, I recommend that you give it a try. It will likely surprise you.

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